The old adage that life only begins in Brazil after Carnival is probably true, but at least this year, we get an earlier start. Many of you have complained that you are receiving Spotlight very late, and in too many cases not at all. We are experiencing very serious problems with the postal services and must apologise to our readers.

On 7th December 2017 we held the British Society’s Annual General Meeting where British organisations such as St. Paul’s School, St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, the Royal British Legion, the Carajás Scouts, St. Andrew’s Society, and São Paulo Yacht Club (SPYC) presented their 2017 achievements along with their plans for 2018.

Everyone is familiar with the Legend of King Arthur, which is a fictitious story that was concocted by the first great French novelist called Chrétien de Troyes in about 1165, who unscrupulously distorted the facts with his ‘poetic licence’ and modified the names of the characters and places to suit his Frankish audience too.

Around late 19th and early 20th centuries the ports of Rio de Janeiro and Santos were avoided by the main shipping companies because they were known as fever-infested swamps. Enter Oswaldo Cruz, born in São Luiz do Paraitinga, São Paulo, even nowadays a very, very small place.

I am always very grateful for the suggestions and feedback I receive from readers, so the following is adapted from an email I received last week. You have probably read similar advice before, but here are some friendly reminders...

“What generalisations can we make about life in the pre-agricultural world?... The vast majority of people lived in small bands numbering several dozen or at most several hundred individuals, and all these individuals were humans...

Edifício Altino Arantes, an Art Déco building on Rua João Brícola, 24, city centre, formerly Prédio do Banespa has now become Farol Santander and is open to the public. It was built in 1947, first designed by the architect Plinio Botelho do Amaral, but later modeled on the Empire State Building by the Camargo & Mesquita construction company

The Royal British Legion - São Paulo Branch has been invited to participate in a very special event this year. It is the GREAT PILGRIMAGE 90, which will take place from the 5th to 9th August 2018. Representatives of our branch will participate in a Remembrance visit to the Somme and the Ypres Salient.

2017 is the year that we took elder people from the community to over 200 doctor appointments, as part of our Care Program, and managed to create the greatest exhibition of British classic cars in Brazil, as you might have read on Spotlight’s last issue. What a busy and gratifying year!

In November 1917, World War I was in its 4th year. Things were still very uncertain and I doubt that anyone believed that the war would terminate one year later on the 11th November 1918. Things looked very dark, both for the soldiers fighting on the battle fronts and for the civilians back in England.

In the Summer of 1948 Dr. Schweitzer rested for some time in the Black Forest retreat of Koenigsfeld where his friends noticed his extreme weariness and loss of weight. He then spent some time in Switzerland where he met his four grandchildren for the first time.

Mão Amiga is a private school in Itapecerica da Serra, which is about an hour away from our school. Their objective is to give neighbouring communities in Itapecerica access to affordable and quality education. The school pays its expenses through support from donors, so their resources are limited. In 2012, our school began a partnership with Mão Amiga.

I had been asked numerous times over my tenure as Director of Music if we could perform the Sound of Music for our biannual Senior School musical here at St. Paul’s. For a number of years, I was reluctant to agree as we simply didn't have enough singers willing to take part. Imagine my surprise this year when we ended up with so many pupils auditioning for roles that we had to decide to have a double cast!

On Thursday November 30th, residents and carers from Elite had the pleasure of seeing some of their regular visitors from St. Francis College performing on stage. Students Konsta Karavitis, Arthur Rodrigues and Luiz Felipe França were the lead characters in a sardonic comedy called “Out at Sea” written by Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek in 1960.

British Society São Paulo

The British Society São Paulo provides support for British citizens who are proven to be eligible for assistance. Over the years many people have benefited from the care and the educational, medical, financial or other aid provided by the institution that was founded in 1940 by British citizens resident in São Paulo. A group of Committee members carefully and compassionately considers each application, at all times ensuring the highest levels of privacy and confidentiality.